Asian Para Games 2026: Sumit Antil defends javelin gold as India breaks medal record

India's Paralympic and World champion Sumit Antil added another feather to his cap as he defended his Asian Para Games gold medal by clinching the top prize in the Men’s Javelin Throw F42–F44/F61–F64 at the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium here on Friday.

Antil won his second gold at the continental showpiece with a huge 72.46m throw in the final, while India swept the podium places. Mahendra Gurjar (F42) and Sandip Sargar (F44) brought the silver and bronze medals.

Mahendra hurled the spear to 59.03m and collected 1066 Raza points, while Sandip achieved a distance of 64.48m and accumulated 1006 Raza points. Both the athletes broke the Games record in their categories.

The Raza point system is a mathematical way to compare and rank athletes from different disabilities on a fair and level playing field.

Meanwhile, Pranav Soorma also secured a gold medal in the Men's Club Throw F51 event with a Games record throw of 32.87m. Dharambir also bagged a bronze in the same event with a throw of 27.71m. Another podium sweep for India was missed as veteran Amit Kumar Saroha finished fifth with a throw of 27.26m to miss out on a medal.

Moreover, the Indian contingent has now marked its best-ever performance at the Asian Para Games. They have bagged 114 medals till now, going past their previous best haul of 111, which they achieved during the Hangzhou Para Games.

At the Aichi-Nagoya Games, India have 30 gold medals, 35 silvers and 49 bronze medals till now, which also surpassed the gold medal haul of 29 in Hangzhou.

Track para-athlete Sandeep recently bagged a bronze medal in the 100m T64 event with a time of 11.67s. He had also won a gold in the 400m T64 event at the ongoing Games.

Earlier, India's Thulasimathi Murugesan and Manasi Joshi clinched the gold medal in the Women's Doubles SL3-SU5 category.

The Indian duo defeated reigning World Champions Qiuxia Yang and Zuxian Xiao of China in straight games, 21-16 and 21-13, to avenge their loss in the 2025 Asian Championships final and claim the coveted medal.

With this medal, Thulasimathi & Manasi upgrade their silver from the previous edition to gold.Earlier in the day, Thulasimathi teamed up with Nitesh Kumar to bag silver in the Mixed Doubles SL3-SU5.